Jeremy Clarkson has issued a stern warning to the BBC over who they decide to replace Monty Don on Gardeners’ World.
Last week, the 71-year-old horticulturist announced he would be stepping down from the programme after 23 years as its presenter.
Fans of the long-running show quickly expressed their sadness over the update, and now former Top Gear star Mr Clarkson has weighed in.
Writing in his Sunday Times column, the Clarkson’s Farm presenter detailed the comfort he finds in Gardeners’ World, with Mr Don having played a big part in the show’s warmth and “safe” feel.
Monty Don has fronted Gardeners’ World since 2003 | INSTAGRAM/MONTY DON
He wrote: “Whenever he appears on screen, in his enormo-comfy trousers, with his trug and his watering can, I know that for a next few minutes at least, there will be no grooming gangs or Russian cyberattacks. There will be peace.”
The former Grand Tour host revealed he was “sad” to hear the news, which Mr Don shared days ago.
“And I’m even sadder now because I’ve realised he will have to be replaced, and I have the most horrible feeling that whoever gets the gig will not be the sort of person who wears corduroy. The material of choice for anyone with a safe, gentle pair of hands,” Mr Clarkson went on.
He argued: “As I’m sure you’ve noticed, there’s been a trend in recent years for television shows to be presented by ‘characters.’
Jeremy Clarkson urged the BBC to carefully consider who they replace Monty Don with
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GETTY“People with regional accents who wear brightly coloured jumpers with rainbows on them.
“People who think that being zany is the same as being funny.
“There’s also a trend to hire people who have absolutely no idea what they’re talking about. It’s one of the things that’s made the new hosts of The Grand Tour work so well: they do.”
He went on to predict the “BBC bigwigs” would likely be having calls regarding the decision, theorising that Paddy McGuiness’ name will have come up.
Monty Don announced last week he’d be stepping down from Gardeners’ World after 23 years
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BBC“I bet my name comes up too, ‘because he’s doing that farm thing now and farming’s just big gardening isn’t it?'” Mr Clarkson continued.
However, he ended with a piece of advice for those in the decision-making process.
The 66-year-old penned: “What they need to remember is that Gardeners’ World is a show about gardening, for sure, but it’s also a state of mind.
“It’s pixelated comfort food, a shepherd’s pie in a world full of kebabs at one end and preposterous cherry and yoghurt espuma at the other.
Jeremy Clarkson detailed his love of Monty Don and Gardeners’ World
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PA“It’s a show where Latin can be used unapologetically.
“The host can say ‘Silene vulgaris’ and those who know will know and those who don’t won’t care, because all that matters is that the Russians aren’t coming and they aren’t about to be groomed.”
Mr Don took over the programme in 2003, succeeding Alan Titchmarsh, and has presented roughly seven hundred episodes since.
“I have decided that the current series of Gardeners’ World is to be my last,” he said last week.
He added that he began hosting “23 years ago, first at Berryfields and for the past 16 years here in my own garden, Longmeadow.”
The presenter described the bond he had forged with viewers as something he “always treasured,” calling it central to “a life well lived.”